Also by Sam Seudo:
- Son of the Green
- Stuff of Folklore
- Wishes and Regrets
- Roger.
- Family Secrets
- Overman
- Ana of Acheron
- The Land Never Promised
- Valhalla
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The Gatekeeper
Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
Rating:
( based on 1 review)
Published: Oct. 01, 2012
Words: 5,225 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301046355
Short description
Matteo specializes in exorcisms, using techniques from his checkered past. His latest case is straightforward - or it would be if he weren’t distracted by that very past coming back to confront him. Matteo suddenly finds himself in a race against time to save a girl’s life; all the while deciding whether or not to re-enter a world of sex, magic, and deceit to avenge the murder of a former friend.Extended description
In a fictional South American country with Italian influences, psychology and the occult meet head-to-head. Matteo is a moral young man with a checkered past who works as a sort of freelance “exorcist.” Abandoned by one religion and betrayed by another, he struggles to make a living by helping innocent people haunted by remnants of the deceased. When he learns that someone from his past has been murdered, Matteo must decide whether or not to reenter a world rife with sex, magic, and deceit - all the while racing the clock to intervene before a young girl’s mind is claimed by forces from beyond the living world.Tags
fiction, short fiction, scifi, murder, mystery, spirituality, gay, ghosts, spirits, psychology, occult, lgbt, queer, homosexual, fantasy, paranormal, religion, magic, short stories, short story, supernatural, south america, haunting, witchcraft, pagan, afterlife, noir, free, italy, investigation, alternate history, spiritualism, jung, ghost stories, sex magic, magick, latin america, exorcism, mesopotamia, tuscany, life after death, noir fiction, neopagan, sex magick, hauntings, neonoir, jungian psychology, sumerian mythology, lgbtq, sumeria, folk religion, carl gustav jung, neonoir fiction, mesopotamian mythology, lilitu, french guianaAvailable ebook reading formats
This book is free. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.| Format | Full Book |
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| RTF (readable on most word processors) | Download |
| LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub) | Download |
| Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices) | Download |
| Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting) | Download |
| Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page) | View |
Reviews
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Review by:
Beth Madden
on Oct. 07, 2012 :
After reading only the first paragraph, I was primed to like Sam Seudo’s The Gatekeeper. The author’s clear, simple, and honest style appealed to me immediately, as did the protagonist Matteo. Other characters, Gino and Tom, won me over as well with their idiosyncratic personality traits and revealing dialogue – this author has created a cast of immensely likable characters using very few words.
This short story revolves around an unpaid exorcism and the moral dilemma of Matteo, who doesn’t want to get involved with Gino and his old life even when murder has been committed. This story introduces two faiths, both of which Matteo has left yet employs to do his job. I admit, I had to read some of the explanations of the faiths a few times to make sure I understood, though the important terms being italicised assisted greatly. I giggled at the comfortable dissonance between Matteo and his disbelieving assistant, and enjoyed the description of the exorcism, explaining step-by-step how the protagonist explored a sea of souls and found that which was causing the haunting. Also, I found Matteo’s shying away from sexual terms, even in his own mind, to be very endearing.
If I’m to be picky, I did stumble across a homophone-related error, but found to my surprise that I – I, who have stopped reading books in the past due to grammar issues – didn’t care. The rest of the story was clean. And I was enjoying it far too much to stop.
The use of both present tense and the first person generally makes for a fast-paced, reader-involved literary experience, and The Gatekeeper is no exception. Realistic despite a paranormal context and boasting this lovely, haunted-yet-caring protagonist, this story would definitely be receiving four-and-a-half stars if I could give half stars here. With leeway left for more, I very much hope the author continues this clever, addictive story.
(review of free book)